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April 1, 2013

It's finally time. After 8 wonderful years in our lovely house, we've decided it's time for a change. This is somewhat heartbreaking for me. I love our house—it's filled us with nothing but amazing memories. It's where I started this blog. It's the only place our kids have ever called home. It's the first place my wife was ever able to use the phrase, "If you don't cut that grass soon you'll be sleeping on it!"

I also love our neighborhood and cul-de-sac street. St. Bernard is one of the quiet gems in Cincinnati. It's close to everything (thanks to easy access to 75 and the Lateral), is minutes away from XU, UC, Good Sam Hospital (my wife was thankful for that all three times she went into labor), Rookwood and downtown (Go Reds!). It has its own gym for residents (only $10 a month, no contract) and the St. Bernard swim club is cheap ($80 a year for a family). If we're lucky, we'll find another house in the area.

So if you are looking for a wonderful house in a quiet neighborhood that's close to everything and has amazing neighbors, then I have a house for you (or if you know someone looking for all of those things, send them my way). Here's a sneak peek.

This is the living room, where my wife and I once argued about what size TV it could handle. I'm happy to say that I won that argument (one of only 5 I've ever won with my wife) and our 50-inch TV, Stephen, has rested comfortably in the corner ever since.

While we normally host our family of 5 in this formal dinning room, we've fit upwards of 15 in here for dinner before. It's an excellent place to eat ice cream out of mini-Reds helmets (I'm willing to throw in a few for the buyer!)

Those kitchen counters are always that clear and never have anything on them like mail or art projects or the lunch that I packed for work and somehow completely forgot.

Here's the breakfast nook that sits right off the kitchen. I have to be honest, we eat a majority of meals in here because of its convenience to the fridge and stove.

The downstairs bathroom was pretty ugly when we moved in, so we updated the floor, replaced the awful medicine cabinet with this full mirror and added some decorative elements.

The master bedroom is pretty big and has a nook with a large closet (in fact, you could probably close off the nook and turn it into a walk-in closet-->—no idea why we never did that. I don't know. We really liked the nook.)

We also redid the floor of the upstairs bathroom and recently had the tub reglazed.

The second bedroom is actually slightly bigger than the master suite, which worked out well for us. We were able to fit two twin beds in there and still have plenty of space for dressers and toys. It also provides an excellent number of hide-and-go seek hiding places.

The third bedroom started out as my "Reds Room," an office filled with Reds bobbleheads and other memorabilia (which explains the red and white striped walls). But for the past couple of years it's served as a nursery for my youngest daughter (and still had enough space to fit a full size bed).

Here's the back of the house. We have a one-car garage, though we use it mostly to store the ridiculous amount of bubble-blowing liquid we've accumulated over time. The driveway wraps around the house and is big enough to fit several cars, which is nice for parties. It's also a wonderful canvas for kids (and some of us grown ups) who love to play with chalk. And there's a nice little patio that we have used for a table, chairs and our grill. My favorite is to sit out there on beautiful summer nights, grilling some burgers, listening to the Reds game on my tiny radio and watching the kids as they kick a soccer ball in the grass.

So there you have it. This house has been the perfect fit for us for so long; now we're hoping someone else finds it a perfect fit for them. We've been so lucky to have such amazing neighbors and the day we move the last box out of the house, I'll be incredibly sad. But with our family complete it's time to find a house that fits us a little better (and one that has enough closet space to accommodate the mountains of shoes that come with a wife and three daughters).

Check out the official listing to see all the specs and share with family, friends and anyone else you know who may be looking for an affordable house in a lovely, quiet, cul-de-sac neighborhood. I know there's someone out there who is ready to fall in love with it like we did.

10 comments:

love the colors! Such a beautiful home I am sure someone will cherish it as much as you and your family have. Best of luck to finding the perfect new home and awesome neighbors. I know exactly what this is like. Here's to GREAT new beginnings!

What a lovely home you have, Brian. We are hoping to move, too, because we really don't like our current home, and your house looks like it would be perfect for us (does it have a basement, too?), but I don't think I could convince my husband to move to Ohio.

Best of luck in your move. I hope you and your family find another home you will love just as much.

Brian, I live in Jersey and the couple of people I know in Ohio aren't in the market for a house, so I can't help you :( But!...

I REALLY enjoyed seeing your home :) This is the where all the actual LIVING of the blog posts you've written have taken place. How special :) I expected the rooms to be smaller, but they look like they're spacious and comfortable. Hell, if Stephen can fit so well in that corner, I'd say there's room ;)

Good luck selling, and especially finding the right place to write your family's next chapter. Of course, assuming that when you DO move, you'll be taking the furniture, the toys, the shoes, your wife and all three daughters (and Stephen), you'll have SO many more memories to build and they'll be good, regardless of where you are :)

I had to look at the listing to see where this was. My mother grew up in College Hill, my granddad, after being widowed, married a woman from the Wyoming section and moved out there. My mom and uncle graduated from UC, my mom from grad school, too. If I had a job in Cincy I would snap up your house. It's also really affordable, all things considered!

Emotionally, selling your house where you built good memories with your family is definitely a hard decision. Been there, and done that! But, if you’ll think about the good investment return you’ll get out of it, particularly if you did so much reno to the house, I think it’s totally worth selling. Anyway, your house looks gorgeous. I can see how much hard work you put on the interior design. I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have a hard time selling this. Keep us posted for new updates. :) #Calvin Mordarski

How's the sale doing, Brian? I would've considered buying it myself as it has everything I want – wonderful house (no false flattery on that), quiet neighborhood, and amazing neighbors. But I'm not anywhere in propinquity of your place, nor has any plans of moving that far. I can only wish you all the best! :)

It can be really hard to move if you had a wonderful home like that. It’s just so lovely! Not only the house itself, but the neighborhood as a whole. I’m sure the new owners will fall in love with this place. So, who are the lucky buyers?